It did not take long for Rein to reach the edge of the ancient battlefield within which the Harvest Devil Sect was located. With the impending demon beast wave, the lands had become mostly if not completely empty.
He soon encountered the ‘natural’ defenses that prevented his entry.
For one, the whole of the ancient battlefield was covered in a thick reddish fog while the ground was layered with decrepit armor and weapons of an ancient time.
Rein needs to see the location clearly if he wishes to employ his teleportation skill to travel. As such, he could not simply flash into the Harvest Devil Sect, with his sight impeded by the dense crimson fog.
One careless step and Rein discovered he had crushed the skull of skeletal remains.
Another hundred feet in and ghostly figures began to appear in the surrounding fog. Rein was shocked to discover that many of these figures were stocky with a lower height. Dwarves must have fought in this battle, he surmised.
Rein further examined these ghostly figures. No-- calling them ghosts would be inaccurate, for they all carried a vacant expression upon their misty faces. They are but lingering spirits formed by the will of those upon a reluctant death.
This would change as Rein leapt deeper into the fog. The lingering spirits suddenly turned their heads towards him, and their eyes now carried a hatred, a desire to devour his flesh and bones.
Rein backed out a few steps, and the lingering spirits returned to their vacant expression. These ghosts must have been commanded to protect a specific vicinity around the sect by Ailehr. That was Rein’s guess as he recalled Ailehr’s ghostly arts.
Rein sighed as he considered his options. It would be foolish to force his way in, with so many lingering spirits tracking his movements in desire of his body. And if these lingering spirits had been overtaken by Ailehr, then Ailehr would be alerted if those lingering spirits communicated his presence.
How do the members of Harvest Devil Sect travel through unscathed? Though Ailehr, the Harvest Devil, mastered a ghostly devilish art, the others who had joined the sect, most likely, would not have mastered ghostly-related skills.
Rein soon had the answer, for the approaching sound of a cart entered his ears. He turned his head about, hoping to find some form of cover. Naturally, none existed in this area.
But of course, he owned a ‘Shifting Mask’. As a last resort, he projected the image in his mind into this magical tool, and plopped down onto his side. His appearance now transformed into a skeleton encased in ancient plated armor, similar to those lying about on the ancient battlefield.
“Huh,” a shrill voice of a woman exclaimed. “I never noticed this skeleton before.”
Her words sent Rein’s heart pounding.
“This damned place has always been filled with numerous skeletons,” the hissing voice of a man replied.
“No, no,” the shrill voice replied. “We’ve traveled south and sneaked through the Xuere gap many times to procure supplies from the Green Trout City. Entry from this direction into the sect--my memory of the placement of every skeleton and piece of shattered armor is perfect.”
“Except every desperate soul who wishes to join our sect carelessly disrupts the battlefield on their approach.”
“Mmmm…”
Rein was lucky-- if that woman was by herself, she would no doubt examine Rein’s appearance, and his shifting mask was unlikely to hold up against close scrutiny.
Anyhow, a basic wooden cart pulled by a crumbling puppet soon trundled past Rein’s illusory skeletal pose.
The puppet was unique in the sense that it was formed by haphazard pieces of worn scraps welded together by an absolute amateur.
The cart carried many supplies that Rein recognized to be purchasable in Green Trout City. His eyes were drawn by a much more sinister sight-- the limp bodies of many human bodies piled together beside the other supplies.
At this point, the crumbling puppet stuttered to a stop.
“Damned puppet,” the shrill voice belonging to a thin and deathly white woman complained. “If only we could use the zombies instead of this broken thing.” Her long-as-her-waist, black and somewhat frazzled hair swung about as she examined the crumbling puppet pulling the cart.
“You know we can’t use zombies in the Minhr Nation,” a skinny man with a gaunt face replied. “Senior is already doing his best to build these puppets.”
The deathly white woman eventually gave up on identifying the supposed malfunction of the puppet and simply slapped the patchy puppet. To her pleasant surprise, the puppet began pulling the cart forward again.
Rein observed closely as these two Harvest Devil Sect members entered into the zone where the lingering spirits would turn to stare at an enemy.
That never happened, for the deathly white woman and the gaunt man both placed a talisman over their foreheads. The symbol upon the talisman glowed and dispelled the lingering spirits’ attention.
The cart also had a few inscriptions upon its body light up, preventing any drawing of the lingering spirits’ attention.
How incredibly troublesome. Rein realized that he had to take calculated risks to get both in and out.
Rein was soon alone again as the two Harvest Devil Sect members along with their cart vanished into the crimson fog.
After some thought, Rein disabled his ‘Shifting Mask’, and began rolling himself in the dirt. The dirt surrounding him, of course, carried the vile smell of the ancient battlefield. He also roughed himself up to create a disheveled appearance.
He then simply laid down upon the supposed path that Harvest Devil members needed to travel through from the south to their sect.
His hope was that other members of the Harvest Devil Sect would soon return as well.
As luck would have it, his guess turned out true.
“Finally.” a man’s voice of relief grumbled into the fog. “We managed to return before the onset of the demon beast wave.”
“Huh?” The man leading his cart noticed Rein’s limp body laying on the ground. “Which desperate returning idiot dropped such a perfect specimen for zombification? A tempered body, that much I can tell.”
“Heh!” his partner at the back of the cart replied. “Must be some juniors absolutely shitting their pants because of the demon beast wave.”
“Our gain!”
“Indeed. Devil Shihr will be ecstatic with this bulky tempered body.”
“He’s not already dead, is he? The best wights and zombies are created from those that have just passed.”
“Oh please. It's a strict protocol for all of us to kidnap and drug good zombie material.”
“More like the Sect Master wishes to check if there’s any good man she can swallow before he gets turned into a zombie.”
“I would not mind dying under her hips.”
The two men then cackled in laughter for a time.
“Refresh the inhibiting drug. For all we know, the fools accidentally dropped him many days ago.”
“Yes, senior!”
Rein felt a sharp object poke at his arm. It failed to break his skin.
“By the Devil God Hehrn. Senior! This man truly has a good tempered body for zombification! This needle could not even pierce his skin!”
Rein could hear one of the devilish men rummaging through his belongings.
“Here.”
A hand and cloth damp with an unknown drug covered Rein’s lower face. In order to put on a convincing display, Rein could not react-- he was forced to breathe normally, inhaling a rather sickly sweet drug into his lungs.
The many orange lightning dragons within his veins roared in anger as they swarmed about in an effort to defend Rein’s body.
Though Rein had begun to feel slightly faint, he still had enough clarity in mind to recall that lightning carried certain defensive qualities against poisons.
However, that battle was ongoing-- his body would feel devoid of strength for a time, at least.
“Hmm… I suppose this really is a body that some juniors dropped accidentally. He did not even struggle against the delivery of the drug.”
Rein felt himself lifted by four hands and tossed onto the cart. He was in.
As for the cost? The orange lightning dragons in his veins were currently warring against the mysterious drug that had invaded his body. Though his body felt somewhat weak, his mind still had clarity.
Rein internally sighed in relief. His risky method of entry was not a complete disaster. His heart gained more confidence, with the knowledge that heavenly lightning had been absorbed into his draconic lightning source. He had no doubt that this gave a unique quality and edge to the lightning dragons in his veins.
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The cart lumbered on. Rein repeatedly bumped against the other slow-breathing unconscious bodies on the cart. Bodies to be zombified or turned into wights, no doubt.
Rein opened his eyelids by a hairsbreadth. Enough to catch glimpses of his surroundings while still appearing unconscious.
He had to admit that though the place was sinister and vile, and its practices abhorrent, there was a certain… striking attraction to the Harvest Devil Sect.
A hand-shaped hole at least ten thousand feet across sunk into the ground, creating dizzying cliffs long littered with the settlements of the Harvest Devil Sect’s members.
As for the cart that Rein rested upon in a feigned unconsciousness? It descended down into the hand-shape hole across wooden bridges that zigzagged down the face of the cliff. These strung up wooden bridges connected platforms that served as guard posts, and swayed ever so slightly in a breeze, creaking alarmingly in Rein’s ears.
The crimson fog faded as the cart descended into the Harvest Devil Sect. After the time it would take to consume a meal, they reached the bottom.
“Junior. We head to Devil Shihr first.”
“Huh? But the Sect Master-”
“Devil Shihr has promised to reward me-- us-- if we bring quality bodies to him directly.”
“Yes. Yes!”
The cart changed direction.
Rein peeked at his surroundings. Many devil advancers lined up before multiple fountains of bloody liquid. It was obvious as to the reason for this. Even Rein could feel a source of thick yet vile aura from the bloody liquid.
The cart soon entered a tunnel into the walls of a cliffside, and further descended before opening up into a cavern.
In the center of said cavern was a humongous pool of murky and gooey liquid that casted a neon green glow upon the rocky walls.
Before this pool stood a man of unique appearance. A man with a vibrant collection of hair sprouting from many parts of his body, including odd places such as his neck and shin. Primarily green, purple and red. Revolting, really.
“Devil Shihr! We have brought you a most wondrous body!”
Rein was lifted by two pairs of arms and lowered before Devil Shihr.
“Perfect…Perfect!” Devil Shihr exclaimed as he pinched the skin of Rein’s arm. “Your rewards!”
Something was handed over to the two men out of Rein’s line of sight as he laid on a simple clean-cut stone block.
“Much thanks, Devil Shihr! I cannot wait to enjoy myself the next time we travel into Minhr!”
“Have you not heard?” Devil Shihr informed the two. “The Sect Master has declared that she will not distribute the ghost-diversion talismans in the near future. Not until the demon beast wave has completely ended.”
“Then we will harvest the spoils of conflict between the orthodox bastards and the demon beasts!” Devil Shihr cackled in excitement.
The two men had never participated in such a harvest before, and so did not understand Devil Shihr’s excitement.
Rein, however, was the one most uneasy from this news. He originally planned to obtain one of these ghost-diversion talismans to escape Harvest Devil Sect. If there still remained any in circulation, it has just become even more difficult for him to get his hands onto one.
Talismans are of use for a limited number of times, or for a certain length of time. Indeed, the two men that had brought him here promptly discarded their ghost-diversion talismans once they entered the Harvest Devil Sect.
“Now leave!” Devil Shihr ordered as he gestured with an arm for the two men to leave him alone. “I will immediately process this body! Don’t disturb my work!”
The two men apologized and bowed their heads three times each in thanks before hurriedly leaving the way they came, cart in tow.
Devil Shihr unsheathed a blade. Of course, he needed to take Rein’s life before turning him into a zombie! With such a fresh and tempered corpse, Rein would be one of his best zombies yet!
Shihr held the blade in a reverse grip. The blade pierced downwards towards Rein’s body, limp on the stone block.
Instead of feeling the resistance of a human’s flesh, Shihr instead felt the tip of his blade clash against a hard material, clinking against a stone surface!
Rein had activated the ‘dark mirror’, connecting the piercing point of the blade, the skin in front of his heart, to a portal layered on his back.
Rein wasn’t sure as to the level of Devil Shihr’s strength, but he had no choice but to take yet another risk. It was kill or be killed!
To Devil Shihr’s shock, Rein’s body suddenly rose from the stone block, and two muscular arms reached forth as two hands grasped his throat!
Rein was attempting to choke Devil Shihr to death. This also served the purpose of preventing Devil Shihr from alerting others.
However, Devil Shihr was much tougher than Rein expected. Many of the Harvest Devil Sect members appeared deathly and frail, yet Rein discovered that their bodies carried a unique durability.
Another issue was that Rein’s physical strength had been somewhat restrained by the earlier drug.
Though Rein had yet to learn any lightning-related arts of the shell realm, he still chose to send his draconic lightning into overdrive through his veins, hoping that it would further dispel the effects of that inhibiting drug.
This proved effective, as Rein began to feel his strength recovering as he tightened his grip.
Meanwhile, Devil Shihr, not aware of Rein’s ‘dark mirror’ art, attempted to swing his blade, believing that such action would slice open Rein’s internals.
Devil Shihr soon discovered that he could not perform such action! He felt as if his blade was trapped in a narrow passageway, and could only move forward and backward.
Rein’s ‘dark mirror’ was, after all, effectively a spatial tunnel connecting his front to his back. It would not close as long as an object remained to pry open the spatial tunnel.
As for breaking the walls of said spatial tunnel? Though possible, it would not harm Rein. That would only cause an opening into some unknown spatial dimension. At least, there have been cases where advancers battling one another while traveling through spatial tunnels carelessly broke said wall and threw each other into some mysterious chaotic dimension.
Devil Shihr’s eyes bulged under stress as he activated an aurae shell around his body. Though Rein was concerned as to what effects this aurae shell might have, his dragon claws only gripped with increasing force as his strength returned.
Rein’s physically tempered body had once taken the life of a few shell realmed Convergence Sect talents. Unless this Devil Shihr turned out to be an outer devil, or his aurae shell carried unique effects…
An effect that Rein would soon detect as a vile aurae seeped into his body through the connection of his hands.
Rein widened his eyes as he felt the flesh in his hands weakening. Though he had no shell-ranked lightning art, and only had a partial aurae shell, he activated his pure orange-colored draconic lightning to coat his hands and arms in a sizzling power.
The invasive aurae was blocked and and pushed back with such ease that Devil Shihr's face immediately filled with despair.
Impossible. Heavenly draconic lightning?! These were Devil Shihr’s thoughts as his vision swam. All devils feared lightning. Lightning was heaven’s judgment upon their unorthodox paths!
Devil Shihr gave up on attempting to slice through Rein’s internals, and withdrew his sword from Rein’s ‘dark mirror’ spatial tunnel.
He now swung his blade to chop off Rein’s two arms!
Two dark rings formed around Rein’s two forearms, a form of his partial aurae shell abilities. The blade passed through the ‘dark mirror’ as if his forearms weren’t there. Meanwhile, Rein maintained a full-on grip on Devil Shihr’s throat.
Devil Shihr was naturally flabbergasted by such a sight. He had never seen or heard of such deft spatial-related powers with relation to the aurae shell arts.
Rein took advantage of this moment of confusion in Devil Shihr’s mind to twist himself behind the man, transitioning into a neck lock, his right arm wrapped around the devil’s neck. This allowed him to exert far more strength to choke the man to death.
Before his death, Devil Shihr only had a phrase in his mind as the blade in his hand dropped onto the ground from his weakening grip. Origin ability!
Rein maintained his neck lock for a good few hundred heartbeats to ensure the man was truly dead.
He then picked up the blade and began to slice apart Devil Shihr’s corpse. No clear evidence could be left. He could not take any chances. He very much recalled how that devil named Blood God Hahrn had somehow survived and attempted a takeover of his body in the depths of the ancient dwarven ruins.
As such, Rein ensured to split apart Devil Shihr’s body. He crushed the devil’s brain and heart. As for the smell? Surely, none in this devil sect would even blink at the iron smell of blood.
By the end, Devil Shihr was unrecognizable, just pieces of meat and organs strewn over the ground in his cavern.
Rein chucked the blade into the green gooey pool. He then activated the ‘Shifting Mask’ and transformed into the appearance of Devil Shihr.
He could but groan, troubled by the limitations of the ‘Shifting Mask’. Most members of the Harvest Devil Sect had frail-looking bodies, and Rein’s tempered frame was simply too bulky. The projected image of Devil Shihr upon his body was unnaturally stretched. Only a fool would believe him to be Devil Shihr.
As such, when Rein left the cavern and returned into the sunken palm zone, he stayed at a significant distance from all, hoping that such a distance would prevent too much scrutiny.
Meanwhile, he was thinking of how to come into contact with prisoners of the devil sect. He soon had an idea-- food. Prisoners needed food!
He slunk into a dark corner against a cliffside, and activated his ‘aura-restraint’ art. He was concerned that Devil Shihr’s appearance might attract some attention. He needed to divert eyes and give himself the chance to observe.
Luckily, Devil Shihr had a reputation of being unapproachable, for even those that noticed his presence from afar dared not come close.
It did not take long before he spotted a bulky man in ragged clothing dragging his feet while pushing a tall and vertical wooden trolley. This bulky man was easily noticeable among the thin frames of the Harvest Devil Sect members.
The man with a stubbled square jaw and shaved head appeared absolutely spent as if he was about to collapse over at any moment. Upon his right cheek was a crimson mark.
Rein raised an eyebrow. He kept an eye on the bulky man, while re-observing his surroundings. Indeed, a few of the sect ‘members’ who behaved subserviently shared this crimson mark.
Rein followed this bulky man into a different tunnel.
The bulky man, once alone in the tunnel, crumbled onto the ground in exhaustion. It was only when Rein closed in with the image of Devil Shihr that the bulky man noticed his presence.
The bulky man’s eye opened wide in fear as he prostrated before Rein.
“Devil Shihr! Please… please forgive my incompetence! I… I am a worthless weakling!” The bulky man blabbered as he pressed his forehead against the ground. “I will bring your meal to your chambers at once!”
Rein considered how he should reply. His short observation of Devil Shihr gave him an idea.
“Slave!” Rein lashed out with a foot at the bulky man’s head, sending him sprawling. “I am beginning the zombification of a perfect specimen! Yet here, I find you resting in these tunnels!” Another kick was delivered to the bulky man’s head.
“Mercy, Sir! Mercy!” The bulky man clutched at his head in pain as he returned back to his prostrating position and blabbered desperately. “I am returning to the kitchen to pick up and deliver the most sumptuous meal!”
“I will give you at most five hundred-- no-- three hundred heartbeats! You had better hurry!” Rein delivered another kick that sent the bulky man sprawling once again.
“Yes. Yes, Master Shihr!” The bulky man croaked, winded by pain.
Rein hurriedly returned to Devil Shihr’s cavern. This sight wasn’t uncommon to the Harvest Devil Sect’s members. Devil Shihr has a reputation of being obsessed with creating various unique zombies.
Soon enough Rein could hear the clattering wheels of a trolley approaching. Rein hid himself beside the entrance.
The bulky man entered Devil Shihr’s cavern, only to see dissected lumps of meat upon the stone block.
Then his vision turned dark as he felt a force connect with the back of his neck. Rein had chopped down at the back of the bulky man’s head with a blade hand.
He then stripped the man of his rags and switched his own clothing. The very real rags would serve to support the ‘Shifting Mask’’s effects.
Just to be safe, he pounded down upon the bulky man’s head a number of times to guarantee the man’s death.
The bulky man’s flesh was soft as tofu despite his frame. He turned out to be a mortal slave.
Rein then transformed into the bulky man’s appearance-- far more fitting for the frame of his own tempered body.
He opened the food trolley and swiftly emptied its contents.
He then pushed the empty trolley, imitating the bulky man’s exhausted slouch, back towards that tunnel where he had seen the bulky man rest. He had limited time. Sooner or later, Devil Shihr’s disappearance would be noticed.